


Emergency Contact

by ChillyHollow



Category: Cormoran Strike Series - Robert Galbraith
Genre: Clubbing, Drug Abuse, F/M, Rescue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:22:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25446814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChillyHollow/pseuds/ChillyHollow
Summary: I've been writing a series of short stories revolving around scenarios of how Strike and Ellacott become romantically involved.  This is the third.  Feel free to come up with the ending….
Relationships: Robin Ellacott/Cormoran Strike
Comments: 16
Kudos: 27





	1. Clubbing

The club was loud, full of people dancing to the beat the “hottest DJ in London” was providing them.She’d lost sight of Matthew, who had insisted they come to this place with a group of his work friends.They were all drinking and dancing, having a great time but she wasn’t enjoying this at all.For one thing, she wasn’t drinking.She’d had one small glass of wine with dinner and nothing alcoholic since.She was the designated driver this evening since she and Matt were the only ones with a car and this place wasn’t close to any train stations.Matt hated the Land Rover but it had come in very handy tonight.It held the four couples easily and Robin was able to make a joke about the Land Rover in “Four Weddings and A Funeral” that got a laugh from everyone, even Matt.She wasn’t worried about its being stolen either, not with that lovely Lamborghini and several Mercedes convertibles parked haphazardly around the club. No car thief in their right mind would steal a vehicle so notoriously baulky and old. 

The music was giving her a headache and the fact that Matt was flirting outrageously with every woman in sight wasn’t helping.He was good looking, her fiancé, and women flocked to him, even in this place where there were quite a few desirable men.Sarah, who always was up on society because of her job at Christie’s auction house, had pointed out a wealthy entrepreneur, a rather notorious partying MP, the son of a rock star, and three investment bankers who were known to be free-spenders.None were as good-looking at Matt, although there were several gorgeous models of both sexes present, one of whom, Ciara Porter, was splashed all over the magazines in advertising for expensive makeup, perfume and clothes.Porter was very tall and thin, with straight platinum hair, eyes the color of sea glass, and legs that went on forever.She was in four inch boots, too, which made her well over six feet tall.Robin had seen her up close briefly when they had entered the club in her wake.Matt didn’t like women taller than his six feet, which was why Robin normally wore flats, even to venues like this.Matt had muttered something about Porter’s looking like a giraffe in those boots.Robin thought wryly that if Robin herself was dancing all night at least her feet wouldn’t hurt in the morning.Not that there was any chance of that here. 

Robin looked at the digital clock over the long bar.It read “Five Hours Thirty Two Minutes Til Closing.”That meant it was around 10:30 p.m., roughly.More people were pouring into the club.Robin needed air.She had spotted stairs near one of the fire exits and thought they might lead to the bathrooms.She drifted in that direction, dodging the wandering hands of strange men who grabbed at her, asking her to dance.She didn't see Matt anywhere.In fact, she didn’t see anyone she knew.She did pass close to the rock star’s son, who was looking a little unsteady on his feet.He was about her age, handsome like his father, but shorter than the tall and lean Jonny Rokeby.Robin had gone to one of Rokeby's concerts at uni, and noticed he’d been much taller than the other men in The Deadbeats.His son was normal height, probably close to or maybe an inch shorter than her own five foot ten.It was hard to judge as he was slumped over the banquette, with a cute brunette cooing in his ear.Robin kept moving, heading toward the stairs.A security guard looked her over as she approached but didn’t block her progress.She headed up the stairs behind a couple who were giggling and having trouble putting one foot in front of the other on the steep climb. 

At the top of the stairs the couple headed left to one of several small rooms, all with red doors.Robin looked inside one room with an open red door. It had a bed crammed into the small space.So these were provided for patrons who ran into someone they fancied in the club?No wonder the security guard had looked her over.She wasn’t paired off with anyone.There might not be bathrooms up here at all.Robin hesitated, then kept going.Might as well see what was here, just in case.She counted six small doors, all painted red.The red doors that were standing open were all clearly bedrooms ready for a quick liaison if you weren’t too choosy.There was also one door painted gold.Robin pushed open the gold door slightly and peeked inside.She found a bathroom that was cleaner than she’d expected.She slipped inside and locked the door. 

Robin combed her hair, washed her hands, sat on a chair in the corner, and shut her eyes.It was soothing here, with the music muffled and the crowds unseen.She let her mind drift.London wasn’t really her cup of tea.It was chaotic and busy, she knew no one outside of Matt’s work and uni friends, and she heartily disliked her temp jobs.She was interviewing for permanent positions, but none of them seemed any better than what she was already doing here and there all over London.One thing about the temporary work that was good was learning the train schedules and all the nooks of London.It was a big adjustment from life in northern Yorkshire where she knew everyone and everyone knew her.She was homesick at times and she was starting to wonder if marriage to Matt was going to be as good as she had expected. She loved Matt, of course, but….

Someone was banging on the door of the bathroom.Robin hurriedly rose and opened the door.A man stumbled inside and nearly fell.A short woman with brown hair was half supporting him.The man was retching.The brunette stepped back and fled, obviously not wanting to deal with the issue.Robin, who had three brothers and was experienced in handling them when they’d drunk too much, hauled the man upright and propelled him to a toilet. She held him by his waistband as he threw up again and again, mostly into the toilet.When the nauseous attacks seem to have stopped, she managed to guide him into the corner chair.With a wet paper towel, Robin cleaned him up some.The bathroom had little paper cups so she got water in one of those and forced some down the man.That was when she realized she was taking care of the rock star’s son.She didn’t have a clue what Rokeby Junior’s given name was and he was in no shape to tell her.His eyes were partly dilated and his breathing was shallow.Robin thought it was time to call an ambulance and had pulled out her phone when a second person came into the bathroom, closely followed by the short brunette who obviously had run for reinforcements.It was Ciara Porter, who frowned at the sight of the ill man and Robin with her phone at the ready.

“No photos!”Porter snapped. 

Robin glared at her.“We need an ambulance.He’s taken something.”

Porter was even more adamant.“No publicity.We’ll get him to a private doctor.”Porter pulled out her own phone and hit a number as she turned and glared at the brunette who took the hint and vanished.Rokeby Junior was retching again so Robin pulled him to his feet and steered him to the closest toilet.While he threw up again, Porter was talking to someone she was calling Sweetie, giving them the club’s address.She put the phone away and told Robin, “Help is on the way.Here in fifteen minutes.” 

Robin put Rokeby Junior back in the chair and wet more paper towels to wipe his mouth and face.He was feebly protesting but Robin simply ignored that.Porter was watching her with a calculating look on her face.“What has he taken, do you know?”Robin asked the model.

“Not a clue.Could be anything.It’s like a free pharmacy down there.” 

Robin made up her mind.Grimacing at what she was about to do, she hauled the man to his feet and dragged him back to the toilet, where she put her fingers down his throat.Predictably, he threw up again.Robin left him to it and washed her hands in very hot water.Porter looked impressed, then glancing at her expensive little diamond and sapphire watch, she said, “Better go tell the Cavalry where he is,” and vanished.Robin wished she could get Matt to help her, then realized he had his phone.She called him on hers but there was no answer.He’d turned it off obviously.She mentally ran through the names of the people they’d come to the club with.None of them were going to be any help and she didn’t have any of their numbers, anyway. 

Porter reappeared, followed by a bear of a man who was taller than Porter, even in her four inch heels.He was broad shouldered and surly looking, obviously not pleased to be dragged to a club to deal with someone who had taken drugs.Intelligent eyes raked over her, then fastened on the ill man.“What’s he taken?” the stranger asked.Porter shrugged and Robin said, “No idea.He’s thrown up four times, though.Hopefully most of it is out of his stomach at least.”

Rokeby Junior was bracing himself against the wall and the stall door.“Bro,” he said weakly. 

“What did you take, Al?” the newcomer asked. 

“Little red pill,” was the unenlightening answer. 

“Give me your car keys,” the tall stranger said to Al who meekly handed them over.“What are you driving, Al?”

“Lamborghini,” muttered Al. 

“Shit,” said the tall man.“I can’t drive that.”

“I can,” Robin surprised herself by speaking up.The stranger looked her up and down, considering and measuring.Robin blushed a bit and stuck her chin up in defiance.

“What’s your name?” he asked. 

“Robin Ellacott.I can drive anything,” she added, which was the truth.“But he needs to get to hospital.”

“We’ll take him to a doctor,” the stranger told her.He pulled out his phone and texted something, then put the phone away and ordered Ciara to head out and take the press with her.Ciara pouted a bit but she obediently left when the tall man gave her a stern look.He transferred his gaze to Robin and said, “Ok, Robin, can you help me get him down the stairs and to his car?”Robin nodded.He handed her the keys to the Lamborghini.“I hope you can drive that thing.”Robin looked straight into the cynical eyes and told the truth.“I can drive it.”

“OK, let’s get him to his feet.”Together they pulled Al upright and steered him toward the door.Robin got it open for the men and caught up with them at the top of the stairs where she put her arm around Al Rokeby’s waist and helped him down the stairs.His rescuer had one of Al’s arms around his neck and was bearing most of his weight.Robin realized just why the tall man couldn’t drive Al’s sports car when he stumbled slightly on the stairs.Looking down anxiously at his feet, she saw his right ankle was a metal bar.They reached the bottom of the stairs without further incident, though, and the tall man went right through the emergency exit without any protest from the security guard.Robin thought this might be an everyday occurrence at this hell hole. 

From there it was only steps to the Lamborghini.While the tall man supported Al, Robin got the car unlocked.She opened the door so he could stick Al in the back seat, then climbed into the driver’s seat herself to look at the controls.By the time the tall man had circled to the front passenger seat and was climbing inside, she had the car running.“Where to?” she asked.

The tall man gave her directions to Wandsworth.She gave him a look and said, "No hospital?"

“Doctor," he replied succinctly, turning in the seat to look at the now recumbent Al.Robin accelerated smoothly and they were on their way.


	2. The Rescue

The Lamborghini drove like a dream.Robin realized the tall man was watching her drive between anxious glances into the back seat at Al.At first the big stranger was holding tightly to the door handle and the back of the seats but he seemed to relax as she changed gears and slipped through the late night traffic towards their destination.Before long they were in surburbia.He had her pull up in a tree-lined street in front of a neat white semi-detached house.As she parked the front door opened and a tall slender man came toward the car.Cormoran was out of the front seat and around the car before she had it turned off.He pulled Al out of the back seat and leaned him up against the car.The new man had a small flashlight out and was examining Al. 

“Ok, let’s get him inside,” the new man whom Robin guessed was a doctor told them.The two men took Al toward the house.Robin ran ahead to get the door but a woman opened it as she approached.The woman was tall with long light brown hair and glasses.She waved Robin inside toward an open plan kitchen where coffee was brewing already.The men sat Al down at the kitchen table where a doctor’s bag was open.The woman told Robin, “Let’s go into the living room and give them space.”Robin followed her to a couch and sat down, suddenly tired.The woman gave her a thick mug of coffee.She wondered if Matt had missed her yet. 

“I’m Ilsa,” the woman said.

“I’m Robin.Thanks for helping Al.”

“No problem.We’d do anything for Cormoran, although I have to say emergency medical help for his little brother is a new one.” 

Robin was pondering the fact that the tall man was Rokeby’s son also when he appeared in the living room.“We need you,” he told Robin, so she excused herself to Ilsa and followed him into the kitchen.Al was looking pale but more alert.The tall lean man looked up at her from where he was bending over his patient.He had a kind face.“Hi, I’m Nick.Do you know what Al took?”

Robin shook her head.“No, but the woman who was with him when I first saw him said he took little red pills.He threw whatever it was up, though.He vomited three times and I got him to throw up again.That seemed to help.He was more alert after and his eyes weren’t as dilated.” 

Nick nodded and looked over Robin’s shoulder.“Probably a mix of uppers and downers,” he said to Cormoran.“I think he’ll be ok now, just needs to sleep it off.”

“And stay away from drugs,” Cormoran growled.Al looked sulky.“Thanks, Nick.I owe you.”He transferred his gaze to Al.“Come on, time to get you and the lady home.”

Al shakily got to his feet and followed them all to the front door.Cormoran gave Ilsa a swift kiss on her cheek and patted Nick on the shoulder.Then he followed his brother and Robin to the car.Cormoran put Al in the back seat despite his objections.“I won’t fit back there and Robin’s driving.”

Al subsided, looking embarrassed for not having realized.“Where to?” Robin asked.Cormoran said they’d better get Al home first and asked him for his address.Robin wondered at brothers not know where each other lived but perhaps Al had just moved.She started the car and drove it confidently into the heart of Mayfair.Al’s home was a palatial townhouse that took up half a block.Al directed her to the back where there was a gate to a courtyard.He recited the gate code to Robin, who punched it into a keypad.The gate opened and she drove into a paved courtyard with a garage with room for 4 cars on one side.She parked where Al told her to, and they climbed out of the car.Al muttered a "thank you” to her as she handed over the car keys.He went to a back door and opened it and disappeared inside, with only a look at his brother who said, “I won’t tell Him but you are going to.”Al sighed and shut the door, leaving Robin and Cormoran standing in the courtyard. 

Cormoran pulled out his phone and called them a cab.They walked to the gate and through a door inset in it that locked automatically behind them.Standing on the sidewalk waiting for the cab, Cormoran looked at her and said, “I’m Cormoran Strike.Thanks very much for your help with Al.Your quick thinking probably helped a lot and I owe you for driving us to Nick’s and then here.”

“Happy to help,” Robin said.“Does he need counseling?Are drugs a problem?”

Cormoran shrugged.“I don’t know. I’m not exactly part of his life.I’ll talk to him about it later.If it seems to be an issue I can talk to Rokeby.He won’t want him on drugs and will take steps if necessary.” 

The black cab arrived and Cormoran asked her where she wanted to be taken.She told him back to the club.“My Land Rover’s there and my fiancé.” 

He looked down at her hand with the engagement ring.“Ok, let’s go.”The taxi sped through the streets and was soon back at where the night had started.It was only 1 a.m., although it seemed like hours had passed.Strike paid off the cab and walked into the club with Robin.“Where’s your fiancé?” he asked.Robin didn’t know.She didn’t see Matt at all.She finally tracked down one of his co-workers who said Matt had gone upstairs. 

Robin headed up the stairs to the back rooms again, a sinking feeling in her stomach.Five of the six red doors were open, so Robin checked the bathroom first.It was empty.Conscious of Strike’s eyes on her, she hesitantly opened the closed red door.She found Matt, busy on the bed with a blonde.She shut the door and eyes filling with tears, headed back down the stairs.Out on the street she realized Strike was still with her as she fumbled in her purse for the keys.She looked up and found sympathy in his eyes.“Come on,” she said.“I’ll take you home.”

He climbed into the old Land Rover.Robin didn’t say anything until she got it started.“Where do you live?” she asked.He directed her to Soho.


	3. A Sort of Conclusion

The streets were much less busy now because of the hour.It only took Robin a little while to get to the edge of Soho.She parked behind what he said was his building.Strike started to get out, then hesitated, asking her if she’d like a drink.Robin said yes.It would be a good night to get drunk.She followed him through a passageway to the other side of the building and then went up three flights of stairs to his small flat.It wasn’t at all what she expected.She’d thought the son of a fabulously wealthy rock legend would have a nicer place, but it was spotlessly clean and very tidy with no personal possessions on display.He got a bottle of whisky down from an overhead cabinet and then took a bottle of wine down after it.Robin opted for wine.He opened the wine for her and poured a glass, then put the rest in his little refrigerator.He opened a beer from the frig for himself. 

They sat at his kitchen table, drinking.Strike asked her about Matt, how long they’d been engaged.Robin found him easy to talk to.She explained she’d come to London with Matthew from Yorkshire after he qualified as an accountant and gotten a job in the city.She told him about the temporary clerical jobs she’d taken and how dull they were.He asked what her plans were now.She put some thought into her answer while finishing her first glass of wine.  
  
“I guess I’ll go back to Masham.There’s nothing for me here.I don’t have friends and I don’t like the temp jobs.”She took her engagement ring off and tossed it into the bin next to the frig.Strike shook his head and retrieved it. “Pawn it,” he advised as he laid it on the kitchen counter.Robin looked at him.“Good idea,” she said.“What about you, Cormoran?Got a girlfriend?”

“Not for a while now.She told me she was pregnant but the dates didn’t add up, then she said it was over.I walked out when I realized she was cheating on me and she didn’t know who might have gotten her pregnant.”

“Too bad,” said Robin with sympathy for a fellow sufferer.“How long were you together?”

“Over sixteen years.”

“Wow, a long time, longer than Matt and me.He was my first real boyfriend.We’ve been together nine years.Were together,” she corrected.“I’ve never even really kissed anyone else.Crazy.”They each sipped their drinks, Cormoran with his legs stretched out and Robin watching him.He wasn’t good looking like Matt but there was something about him.He had a lot of personal magnetism. 

“Cormoran?” she asked.

He looked at her inquiringly.

“Would you do me a favor?” 

“Depends,” he said honestly.“I will if I can.”

“This one is easy.I want to kiss you.Is that ok?”

“You want to kiss me?Why?”

“Because I want to.Because I am feeling lonely here in London where I don’t know anyone but you.And because you are sexy.”

“Just how much have you had to drink tonight?”

“This is my second glass of wine.I had a small one with supper before we went to that club. I’m not inebriated,” she said indignantly.“I was the designated driver so I didn’t have anything after supper.”

“Ok, I’ll kiss you but that’s it.One kiss.”

Robin stood and walked around the table.Cormoran stood.He looked at her and she looked back, then she smiled and walked right up to him and kissed him, her hands on his big chest.He kissed back. Robin thought he was the perfect height.She leaned into him, enjoying the feel of the muscles in his arms and chest on her body.He felt wonderful and he was a great kisser.Robin felt as if she was melting in his arms.She let the kiss grow more insistent, opening her lips to let his tongue tease her.She slid her hands down his chest to his waist where she used his belt loops to pull him as close to her as possible, then let her hands stroke up his back until she had them on his shoulders so she could pull him toward her. 

Robin was never sure how long they spent kissing.She was sorry when Cormoran pulled back.They looked at each other.Robin felt breathless.Cormoran was breathing faster, too.He touched her cheek with his hand, letting his thumb brush over her lips.She shut her eyes, enjoying the feel of his thumb, wishing—she didn’t know what exactly.

She opened her eyes and said, “You are a wonderful kisser.I’ve never kissed a man with a beard before.It’s nice.”

“Kissing you is pretty nice, too.You are lovely, Robin.I owe you for taking care of Al and driving us.I would have had to call for help otherwise which might have led to publicity.I’ve lived my entire live in the tabloids without any choice in that and it is not fun.”He hesitated, then asked her if she’d like more wine.

***********************************************************************************************************

So, what do you think?Does Robin accept more wine?Does she leave now, drive home and have it out with Matt?Does she spend the night with Cormoran instead?Does he take her to a hotel?Discuss….

(And feel free to add your own Chapter Four of Emergency Contact.)


End file.
